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Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Father who desperately tried to save his wife when she was crushed by a falling tree branch as they walked through park pays tribute - as police urge witnesses to come forward
A heartbroken husband has described his wife as the 'most beautiful woman in the world' after she was killed by a falling tree branch during a family day out at a park. Madia Kauser, 32, from Blackburn, had been walking with her five-year-old daughter, nine-year-old son and husband at a local beauty spot when a branch fell towards them. The mother had been pushing her daughter in a pram, and in a final desperate act she was able to push her daughter to safety before taking the full force of the branch. Her husband, Wasim Khan, 33, was just yards ahead with their nine-year-old son when the branch fell, but was powerless to act in time during the shocking episode in Witton Country Park at around 8.30pm on Monday, August 11. He rushed to her side, but little could be done for his tragic wife, who relatives say adored her children. Mr Khan has today spoken of his devastating loss and how he 'she was my comfort, my partner in life and the love of my life'. He said: 'My wife, a mother of two, a daughter, sister and a friend we lost to a tragic event that came on the way home from a family day out in the park. 'She was the most beautiful woman in the world, she did everything for our two children, she did everything she could for anyone and would bring smiles whenever she entered the room. 'She was my comfort, my partner in life and the love of my life. We have so many great memories, went through pain together and started a family together. 'Honestly, I feel completely lost without her and I do not know how to put into words how much I miss her face, her character and her presence. My one and only.' Mr Khan was playing football just yards ahead with the couple's nine-year-old son when the branch fell. Speaking of the moment he battled to save his wife as she lay injured, he said: 'I rushed to her. I tried to save her, she was still breathing.' He also revealed his wife's haunting last post on Snapchat - a picture of a tree which she had taken while they were leaving the park. Describing how the tragedy unfolded, Mr Khan said: 'I was playing football with my son and kicked the ball in the wrong direction and we were going after it. 'I heard a crack and the tree just came down. There was no wind, nothing. The tree was standing straight, not even leaning, and then it just came down. 'She was hit by a branch but it had the full weight of the tree behind it and that is why the council had to cut it all down. Speaking of the moment he battled to save his wife as she lay injured, Mr Khan said: 'I rushed to her. I tried to save her, she was still breathing.' 'I rushed to her. I tried to save her - she was still breathing.' Mr Khan called emergency services, who rushed to the scene but were unable to save his wife. He went on: 'I cannot praise the paramedics enough. They were there in six minutes and the doctors came from the local hospital but nothing could be done. 'I have spoken to someone at the coroners office and they tell me she had chest fractures and her lungs had collapsed. He added: 'She was the most beautiful and loyal person you would ever wish to meet. She was loved by many but especially by her children. We are left here without her.' And he added: 'The last picture she took was of a tree. She took it as we were leaving the park. 'She told me it was time to go home. She said she wanted to shower and feed the children. 'She has left us. Now there is just me and my children.' Two days after the fatal incident, Blackburn council completely cut down what remained of the tree from which the branch fell, as well as lopping off branches from several other nearby trees. A joint investigation is underway between Lancashire Police and the Health and Safety Executive, and detectives are asking anyone with information to come forward. Detective Inspector Iain Czapowski said: 'This is an absolutely tragic incident which has cost a young woman her life and my thoughts are with her loved ones. 'We are working closely with our colleagues from the Health and Safety Executive and with the co-operation of the council to try and establish the full circumstances of what happened, and I would like to speak to anyone with information which could assist with that. 'I am especially keen to speak to anyone who actually saw what happened on that fateful night and I would urge them to contact us.' The accident happened just yards from the park's Big Cover wood, where trees form the majority of the habitat. Relatives from all over the country gathered at Blackburn's Madina mosque two days after Madia's death where the family were hoping a funeral could take place sometime in the evening. Former mayor and still sitting councillor Zamir Khan MBE, an uncle in the tight-knit family, said Madia's body was still with the coroner. He said: 'Her little girl told me her mother pushed her out of the way as the branch fell. 'Madia was a loving, doting mother and a very caring person. 'The older boy was walking with his father in front and could not believe what happened. 'It is very hard for the children. I do not think they will ever walk in that park again.' In a statement, the council said it was 'deeply saddened' after the accident and confirmed the tree had been felled. The authority's chief executive, Denise Park said: 'Our thoughts and heartfelt condolence are with the family and friends of the person who has lost their life at this very difficult time.' He added: 'Witton Park is a much-loved community space, and the safety of everyone who visits is of the utmost importance to us. 'Our thoughts remain first and foremost with the family at this very sad time.' A cyclist who rides through the park every day said: 'I have seen loads of fallen branches before, but it is mainly because of high winds. 'There wasn't even a breeze when this poor woman was killed. It is utterly heartbreaking. 'I shudder to think what her poor children and husband are going through.' Many people walking there today were unaware of the tragedy and thought the council were carrying out unnecessary tree work. One said: 'I was initially cross that they had cut the tree down until someone told me what had happened. It doesn't bear thinking about.' Local councillor Paul Marrow said: 'There have been concerns about ash dieback disease and the number of dead trees in Witton Park and across the borough. 'The council needs to make regular, thorough inspections of the trees in the park to ensure they are safe.'
Telegraph
14 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Starmer's own guidelines ‘should have spared Lucy Connolly from jail'
Sir Keir Starmer has become embroiled in a hypocrisy row over the prosecution of Lucy Connolly on the eve of her release from prison. The Prime Minister supported the conviction of Mrs Connolly for inciting racial hatred over an expletive-ridden post on X after the Southport attacks, but it has emerged that he had previously suggested that people who swiftly deleted offensive social media statements should not necessarily face criminal action. On Thursday, Mrs Connolly will be released after being sentenced to 31 months in prison for posting the comments, which she deleted hours later. The mother-of-one's supporters claim she has been subjected to an unfairly long jail term and made a scapegoat for the rioting last summer. Sir Keir has defended Mrs Connolly's conviction, saying that while he was strongly in favour of free speech he was 'equally against incitement to violence' against other people. He added: 'I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe.' However, in 2013, when director of public prosecutions, he introduced guidance for prosecutors to consider a more lenient approach towards suspects who 'swiftly' deleted social media posts and expressed 'genuine remorse'. The guidance urged prosecutors to consider four factors where 'a prosecution is unlikely to be both necessary and proportionate'. These included if 'swift and effective action has been taken by the suspect and/or others for example, service providers, to remove the communication in question or otherwise block access to it'. Mrs Connolly was jailed for a post on the day three children were killed at a dance class in Southport, on Merseyside, urging followers to 'set fire' to hotels that housed asylum seekers 'for all I care.' At the time, the childminder had about 9,000 followers on X. Her message was reposted 940 times and viewed 310,000 times before she deleted it three and a half hours later, saying she regretted it. Sir Keir's 2013 advice was caveated with a warning to prosecutors that it was 'not an exhaustive list' of mitigating circumstances and that 'each case must be considered on its own factors and its own individual merits.' Legal experts who have followed Mrs Connolly's case noted that the guidance suggested public order offences, such as inciting racial hatred, should be treated separately and suspects would not therefore necessarily benefit from the same protections. Sir Keir followed up publication of the guidance with interviews in which he said: 'There's a lot of stuff out there that is highly offensive that is put out on a spontaneous basis that is quite often taken down pretty quickly, and the view is that those sort of remarks don't necessarily need to be prosecuted. 'This is not a get out of jail card, but it is highly relevant. Stuff does go up on a Friday and Saturday night and come down the next morning. 'Now if that is the case a lot of people will say that shouldn't have happened, the person has accepted it, but really you don't need a criminal prosecution. It is a relevant factor.' The 2013 guidance is repeated nearly word for word in the latest version for prosecutors. However, the initial advice that the factors could make a prosecution 'unlikely' has been tempered to state that prosecutors should take 'particular care' to ensure prosecution is 'necessary and proportionate'. Critics who have claimed Mrs Connolly was a victim of two-tier justice said it raised further questions over her treatment. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: 'Keir Starmer's enthusiasm for prosecuting Lucy Connolly appears to contradict his own guidelines. She rapidly deleted the message and showed remorse. This suggests Keir Starmer is guilty of hypocrisy and double standards by supporting a breach of his own prosecution guidelines. 'Lord Hermer personally authorised this prosecution, in what looks like another example of two-tier justice bearing in mind the very long sentence given when compared to others who committed actual acts of violence.' Lord Toby Young, the director of the Free Speech Union, said: 'Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, should have listened to the advice of Sir Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, and urged the CPS not to bring charges against Lucy Connolly. 'Sentencing her to more than two and a half years for a single tweet which she quickly deleted and apologised for has undermined public confidence in the criminal justice system, particularly when Labour councillors, MPs and anti-racism campaigners who have said and done much worse have avoided jail altogether. 'The public have concluded – rightly – that it's one rule for people on the Right and another for people on the Left. 'The Free Speech Union urged Lucy to plead not guilty, and offered to pay for her defence. Had she done so, I'm confident she would have been acquitted. But she decided against that precisely because she wasn't granted bail and was worried that her case would take so long to come to trial that she would end up spending more time in jail than she would if she pleaded guilty.' Richard Tice, the deputy Reform UK leader who visited Mrs Connolly in prison, said she should have pleaded not guilty. 'There was pressure in the legal system to get her to plead guilty. That was the establishment working in its mystical ways,' he claimed. 'The proof of my point is that Ricky Jones, the Labour councillor, can urge for people's throats to be slit live on TV in front of a big crowd and be found not guilty by a jury. It proves the whole point about two-tier justice and two-tier Keir. He is the biggest hypocrite that has been in Downing Street.' Frank Ferguson, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service's special crime and counter-terrorism division, said: 'It is not an offence to have strong or differing political views, but it is an offence to incite racial hatred – and that is what Connolly admitted to doing. 'The prosecution case included evidence which showed that racist tweets were sent out from Lucy Connolly's X account both in the weeks and months before the Southport attacks – as well as in the days after. The CPS takes racial hatred extremely seriously, and will never hesitate to prosecute these cases where there is enough evidence to do so.' The CPS also noted messages raised during her appeal on her remorse, in which she suggested she might claim that it was not her who had posted but that she was a victim of 'doxing', and that she had published the apology at the suggestion of a third party and her husband. A Government spokesman said: 'Sentencing is a matter for independent courts, and we support the action taken by the courts, as well as the police, to keep our streets safe. 'In all cases where Law Officers' consent is required, the Law Officers carefully consider whether to grant consent, including all relevant factors to the public interest in the prosecution.'
BBC News
14 minutes ago
- BBC News
Two people charged after death of man in Skegness
A man and a woman have been charged over the death of a man in 41-year-old was pronounced dead inside an address in Algitha Road after police were called by ambulance crews at 09:50 BST on Monday. Sylwia Bukala, 42, of Algitha Road in Skegness, has been charged with murder and Alberto Bukala, 21, also of Algitha Road, has been charged with perverting the course of remain in police custody and will appear at Lincoln Magistrates' Court on Thursday. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
